It is a part of our public history which can never be forgotten that
both Houses of Congress, in July, 1861, declared in the form of a solemn
resolution that the war was and should be carried on for no purpose of
subjugation, but solely to enforce the Constitution and laws, and that
when this was yielded by the parties in rebellion the contest should
cease, with the constitutional rights of the States and of individuals
unimpaired. This resolution was adopted and sent forth to the world
unanimously by the Senate and with only two dissenting voices in the
House. It was accepted by the friends of the Union in the South as well
as in the North as expressing honestly and truly the object of the war.
On the faith of it many thousands of persons in both sections gave their
lives and their fortunes to the cause. To repudiate it now by refusing
to the States and to the individuals within them the rights which the
Constitution and laws of the Union would secure to them is a breach of
our plighted honor for which I can imagine no excuse and to which I
cannot voluntarily become a party.

The evils which spring from the unsettled state of our Government will
be acknowledged by all. Commercial intercourse is impeded, capital is in
constant peril, public securities fluctuate in value, peace itself is
not secure, and the sense of moral and political duty is impaired. To
avert these calamities from our country it is imperatively required that
we should immediately decide upon some course of administration which
can be steadfastly adhered to. I am thoroughly convinced that any
settlement or compromise or plan of action which is inconsistent with
the principles of the Constitution will not only be unavailing, but
mischievous; that it will but multiply the present evils, instead of
removing them. The Constitution, in its whole integrity and vigor,
throughout the length and breadth of the land, is the best of all
compromises. Besides, our duty does not, in my judgment, leave us a
choice between that and any other. I believe that it contains the remedy
that is so much needed, and that if the coordinate branches of the
Government would unite upon its provisions they would be found broad
enough and strong enough to sustain in time of peace the nation which
they bore safely through the ordeal of a protracted civil war. Among the
most sacred guaranties of that instrument are those which declare that
"each State shall have at least one Represe